Male and Female Explained!

The infinite "I" reveals an understanding of the spiritual nature of the
genders. As usual for these topics, the theory is simple to state, but requires special
perspective to appreciate. The book The Knowledge of Good and Evil
is designed to help you gain that special perspective; it introduces the concepts of male
and female only towards the end, even after solving the problem of good and evil. You need
to glimpse the solution to the problem of good and evil to appreciate the infinite nature
of male and female.

Understanding the infinite idea "male" is relatively straightforward.
Understanding the infinite idea "female" is subtle and elegant, and needs a
somewhat refined spiritual sensibility to be understood. One pitfall of entering this
discussion is that we tend to identify ourselves with one gender or the other. We need to
accept the spiritual completeness of our individual identity before we can begin to
approach the infinite idea.

Since we are concerned with thoughts beyond the human dimension, the stepping off point
for this topic is the most advanced human thinking around. I am not going to try to
explain these advanced positions, as they are done better by their proponents. But the
subject of male and female is so easily misunderstood, I want to review a few
prerequisites before getting into the substantive issues at hand.

Our reference for observations about male and female has been men and women. We need to
get way beyond this to understand gender in the realm of the spiritual and infinite. Male
and female are spiritual qualities that make up wholeness, and EVERY individual has a
claim to both through their spiritual identity. To paraphrase the beginning of the book's
chapter Male and Female - everyone is identified by the
infinite as its complete self-expression. So the qualities and rights of both female and
male belong fully to each individual, regardless of human gender. Human conception says a
coin in the air has two sides but can only land heads or tails. In the same way, our
identity is only seen humanly, in a limited way, by individuals appearing either as males
or females. But this limited view cannot interfere with the completeness of your spiritual
identity.

The wholeness of infinity makes it natural for everyone to experience the oneness of
the male and female. This encourages close relationships between males and females,
completeness and satisfaction in individual identity, and social progress that recognizes
the natural equality among individuals of all genders. Because individual identity is a
likeness of the infinite, each individual's spiritual identity includes all the qualities
of male and female. As our spiritual growth proceeds, this becomes increasingly apparent.
The male and female qualities of the infinite are inherent in the spiritual identity of
every individual woman and man, girl and boy. This is the starting point for
discussing gender as understood at the level of the infinite I. The next step in
understanding the nature of male and female is to review the solution
to the problem of good and evil.

If you have glimpsed something of the sweetness of the infinite negative, you are ready
to continue with the subject of male and female.